Platform Tennis Zone

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2017

And Away We Go with the Columbus Platform Tennis League...

The platform tennis league will begin play on Sunday, November 5. There will be teams from Elysium, Lakes, New Albany, Scioto, Swim & Racquet, and Worthington Hills. The nomenclature was changed this year from "B" and "C" leagues to 4.0 and 3.0 leagues, respectively. Players will likely range from 4.5-3.5 in the 4.0 league and 2.8-3.5 in the 3.0 league. In years to come, there will likely also be 3.5 and 4.5 leagues.

WHCC's Brad Marquis - Click to enlarge

To kick-off the season, there was a cleverly named, Central Ohio Platform Tennis Kick-off Party held at Lakes Golf and Country Club on Sunday, October 29. Attendance was good with 25 players. The 3.0 players competed from 1:00-2:30 under the guidance of Michelle Jarrett and Colin LeVeque. The 4.0 group played from 2:30-4:00. There were adult beverages and chips.

For those familiar with the OhioTennisZone.com web site, this web site will now utilize much of its software. The OhioTennisZone web site primarily covers Ohio high school tennis on a state-wide basis.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2017

Elysium's Central Ohio Paddle Fest

Elysium is having their second annual Paddle Fest on Sunday, October 1.

Brian Savage - Click to enlarge

The fun begins at 10:00am and the event concludes at 4pm, but players can come at any time during the event and leave when they wish. There is no cost to participate and the event is open to players of all skill levels and genders.

Sure it's summer but that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be a platform tennis tournament. Elysium held its fourth annual Battle at the Mudhole Tournament on a hot, sunny day. The draw included top players (and not so top players) from Ohio, North Carolina, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Thanks to the use of low bounce balls, there were very few balls that were hit out of play, and there were still plenty of evil drop shots effectively executed.

Champions / Ryan Baxter - Click to enlarge

Rob Bakker-Eric Miller / Will Lofgren- Click to enlarge

Ryan Baxter and Zach Held (Indianapolis) defeated defending champions Brian Heil and Mark Barry (Columbus) in the semifinals and Rob Bakker (Cincinnati) and Eric Miller (Charlotte) in the finals to capture the 2017 Mudhole title. Bakker - Miller upset top seeded Scott Kahler (Pittsburgh) and Randy Lofgren (Charlotte) in three sets en route to the finals.

The tournament is held each year on the Saturday following the July 4th holiday weekend.

MONDAY, APRIL 17, 2017

Elysium Summer League

After last summer's success, the Elysium Summer League is now forming the league again for this summer. Those who want to participate need to act quickly and get their money into Elysium by May 1st.

The specifics are:

Season will go from May 16 to August 17th

Matches to be played on Tuesday nights

Balls to be provided

Costs:

Before May 1: $75 for members and $100 for non-members.

After May 1: $100 for members and $150 for non-members

$10 fee per match played

Those interested are to call Elysium's front desk at 614-873-8749 or contact Dan Morneau via email at dmorneau@elysiumtennis.com.

SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2017

Swim & Racquet Wins Central Ohio Platform Tennis League

Congratulations to the men of the Swim & Racquet team. In just their second year, they won the Central Ohio Flight B league. Even though there were several close matches, they went undefeated during the season. Even more importantly, Swim and Racquet provided quality beverages and snacks for their opponents. Rob Martin is the captain of the team.

Swim & Racquet - Rob Martin - Click to enlarge

Matt McConnell - Dan Lehman - Click to enlarge

There was not a league MVP, but if there was, WHCC's Martin Roesch would receive consideration. Special credit goes to Worthington Hills' Roesch for providing buffalo chicken dip for most of the WHCC home matches. Thanks to careful planning, there was rarely a chip / chicken-dip imbalance.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2017

Columbus Open Results

The Columbus Open took place on February 3 for the Women's Open and the Men's 90's. The Men's Open was played on Saturday, February 4.

Photos from the Columbus Open Tournament - Click to enlarge

The Women's Open was won by Sarah Lynch and Carla Lavrusky from Pittsburgh. They beat Columbus' Michelle Jarrett and Pam Lippy in the finals.

Columbus' Brian Heil and Mark Barry won the Men's Open by beating Pittsburgh's Matt Rogers and Scott Kahler.

In the Men's 90's final, Lance Thompson and Scott West beat Amos Allison and Bruce Crocco. All are from Columbus.

There are numerous platform tennis tournaments in the Midwest. Depending on the tournament, players come from far and wide to participate. If the tournament has national ranking points, it becomes a national event, otherwise, the draws normally consist of players from contiguous states.

Photos from the Midwesterns Tournament - Click to enlarge

The Midwesterns is a major, national ranking point event, and it was held in Cincinnati over the weekend. The photos to the right are of several of the Central Ohio women who participated.

The Columbus Open will take place on February 3 for the Women Open and Men's 90's. The Men's Open will take place on February 4. For more information about the Columbus Open, click here for information on the Men's 90 and Open. Contact Brian Heil for any questions about the Women's Open.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2017

Platform Season in Full Gear

It's warm. It's cold. It's warm. It's cold. Well, you get the idea. There were a few days of colder weather to take legitimate platform tennis photos so the camera gear braved the temperatures and I snapped a few photos at Worthington Hills.

Photos from Worthington Hills - Click to enlarge

More photos will be posted soon that were taken at Swim & Racquet.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2016

Columbus-Area Platform Tennis League Now Underway

The platform tennis league is now in its second week. After horrible early-season warm temperatures, the teams finally started basking in 30 degree temps over the weekend.

Most (but not all) people like to get better in anything that they frequently do. First though, it is important to know where a player stands in terms of ability. The American Platform Tennis Association (APTA) has developed a new tool that will help players assess their skills.

For those who wish to improve, the ideal situation would be to complete this self-assessment and then discuss the various criteria with a pro to determine areas of agreement and/or disagreement. The pro could then suggest areas of improvement.

SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2016

3rd Annual Mudhole Open

For the die hard, summer PT players, Elysium's Mudhole Open offers the area's only summer tournament. It was held on July 9th.

Mudhole Open - Click to enlarge

The champions this year were Brian Heil and Mark Barry. They defeated Dan Morneau and Klint McEnery in the finals.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Finally -- Real Platform Tennis Weather

The Men's League is well underway and the season is in high gear. In the Flight A group, Elysium leads the league, followed by Scioto. Worthington Hills is first in Flight B and New Albany is in second place.

Rocky - Lakes Team - Click to enlarge

The warm weather early-on was a huge benefit for the two new teams, Swim and Racquet and Lakes. It is much easier to get players hooked on paddle while the weather is still moderate rather than when the temperatures are in the teens. Swim and Racquet came on-board at the beginning of the season, and Lakes' courts were ready by mid-season. Both teams are already playing solid, competitive matches.

It is painful to include team photos of a winter sport when players are wearing shorts. The Lakes team was the first photo taken this season of players wearing winter gear.

The Westy Open has turned into the Columbus-area platform tennis party. Click to sign-up for the Westy Open on February 27th. There are a variety of skill levels played at five clubs around town, and the Post-Party will take place at the The Fox in the Snow Cafe.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2015

Men's Platform Tennis League

League play kicks into gear this weekend. There will be four Flight A and eight Flight B teams. Both Scioto and Elysium will field two Flight B teams. Swim & Racquet is new to the league this year and they will offer a Flight B team. Rocky Fork and Lakes will be teaming up to form both Flight A and Flight B teams. This is the fourth year for the league.

Last year's team champions were Elysium A and Scioto Country Club B1, and they were captained by Paul Ghidotti and Robbie Columbo, respectively.

The women's league is in the process of gathering players for its second season. Contact Jake Wilson for more information.

SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2015

Doug Jones | Kyle Bates Win the Mudhole Open

On a rare, hot sunny day in central Ohio, 16 teams competed for the coveted Mudhole Open championship hosted by Elysium Tennis. Doug Jones and Kyle Bates defeated Jake Wilson and Mark Barry in the finals by the score of 6-3, 6-2. To get into the finals, Jones and Bates defeated Dan "Dale" Morneau and Klint McEnery, and Wilson and Barry beat Denny English and Balazs Novak.

Mudhole Open Photos - Click to enlarge

The Mudhole turned out to be a great promotional event for platform tennis. At the same time as our tournament was being played, the Bernard Master Doubles Tennis Classic took place at Elysium. This enabled many tennis players to watch competitive platform tennis for the first time.

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2015

Mudhole Open - July 11

Elysium is holding its second annual Mudhole Open on Saturday, July 11. This was a great tournament last year and you can expect to have the same amount of fun at this summer's tournament.

Paddle season doesn't have to end when the temperatures exceed 50 degrees. Elysium is hosting the Columbus-area's first summer league this year. Matches are played on Tuesday nights between May 5th and September 1st. The league will include male and female players, and it will include players of all skill levels.

To get involved, contact Elysium as soon as possible but before April 30th at (614) 873-8749.

There will be six teams, and four teams will play each week at either 8pm or 10pm.

To help insure that the teams are of similar ability, captains will draw for players at the Draft Party on May 2nd.

Contact Elysium's Brian Heil or Jake Wilson with any questions.

SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2015

League Champs: Elysium and Scioto Country Club

It was Elysium Tennis and Scioto Country Club in both of the finals of the Columbus Interclub Platform Tennis League. Elysium took the Flight A championship - winning in a close match against Scioto Country Club. In the Flight B championship, Scioto Country Club B1 won the crown - beating Elysium in the finals.

CIPA League Play - Click to enlarge

Elysium's Flight A Team was captained by Paul Ghidotti. The other participants on the championship team were Philip Diaz, Brian Heil, Chip Marlowe, Ox Smith, and Dave Campaan.

Scioto had two Flight B Teams. The Flight B champs were captained by Robbie Columbo. Other members of the team were Scott Thompson, Jeff Wilkens, Geoff Arthur, Jon Vande Werken, Chuck Nutter, and Jerry Vande Werken.

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015

Worthington Hills Country Club - Club Championship

Worthington Hills had its annual club championship on March 8th. The weather was perfect for fans, but a bit warm for the players.

WHCC Club Championship - Click to enlarge

This year's club champions are Lance Thompson and Scott West. They defeated last year's champs, Craig Bennington and Scott Hauptman, in three sets. Matt Wooster and Chris Zimmerman came in third.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2015

Westy Open

It took a few minutes for players to become acclimated to the single digit temperatures, but players quickly warmed up to make the 14th annual Westy Open another success. Over $70,000 were raised by TWIG 3 to benefit Nationwide Children's Hospital Behavioral Health Program.

Dr. David Axelson, of Nationwide Children's Hospital, provided his thanks for the group's generosity at the after-party.

The after-party was held at The Fox in the Snow Cafe. Music was provided by DJ Patrick.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015

Peachtree Paddle Tournament

There were a number of Columbus area teams that avoided the eight inches of snow on Saturday by playing in Atlanta's 10th Annual Peachtree Invitational Tournament. It was a great event, highlighted by a great party hosted by Daniel and Lisa Kennedy in their Atlanta home.

Avoiding the snow apocalypse from the previous day, the weather was much better for Elysium's Columbus Men's "B" tournament. It was held on Sunday, February 22nd.

Columbus B-Level Tournament - Click to enlarge

Chip Marlowe and Tim Madison were the champions, defeating Ben Lilly and David French in the finals.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015

Elysium B-Level Tournament

Elysium Tennis is having a B-Level tournament on Saturday, February 21 for women, and Sunday, February 22 for men.

Elysium B Tournament-
Click to enlarge

This would be an ideal tournament for the men and women who are participating in the platform tennis leagues this winter.

The cost is $130 per team.

For more information about the tournament, contact Jake Wilson. Jake's contact information is in the flyer to the right.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2015

Columbus Open - 2015

Scioto Country Club and Elysium Tennis hosted another great Columbus Open. The weather was ideal for viewers, but a bit sunny for participants.

Columbus Open- Click to enlarge

Denny English and Thaddeus Reed won Saturday's Open tournament in a close, three-setter against Jeff Jablonski and David Lowe. In Friday's 90's tournament, Paul Ghidotti and Colin LeVeque beat Denny English and Rich Carron, 6-2, 6-1, in the finals.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Jill Gilbert and Pam Lippy won the Women's tournament held on January 31st.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2015

At the Halfway Point

The weather has cooperated so far this season for the platform tennis leagues. Elysium leads the Men's A Flight, while Worthington Hills Country Club is in front in Flight B.

Platform Tennis League Play - Click to enlarge

There is a new women's league this year. Elysium, Worthington Hills, and Rocky Fork are a few of the clubs that are participating.

Photos to the right include participants in both leagues.

Click to view all of the action photos for several players on Scioto's Men B1 team.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Platform Tennis League Matches Underway

It was a bit of a slow start but the season is now rolling.

New Albany Mens B - Click to enlarge

The first team featured is the New Albany Men B team captained by David Walters.

To view the league results, click on League in the upper navigation bar and then select League Information, or click here.

TUESDAY, JULY 1, 2014

1st Annual - Battle at the Mudhole

The first annual Battle at the Mudhole summer platform tennis tournament was held on Sunday, June 29. Even though it was sunny and the temperatures were above 30 degrees, it was a great success. The event was held at Elysium Tennis, and 14 teams competed in temperatures that reached 91 degrees.

1st Annual - Battle at the Mudhole - Click to enlarge

The teams included players from Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton.

There were a wide range of skill levels, and the Viking Low-Bounce ball was used for the event.

TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2014

13th Annual Westy Open Is Another Success

On Saturday, March 8th, 96 local players competed for a great cause on a great weather day to benefit Nationwide Children's Hospital. This annual event is conducted by TWIG 3. Proceeds are expected to equal almost $40,000. Last year, $36,000 was raised.

Westy Open Photos - Click to enlarge

Following the competition, a Post Party was held at the Jeffrey Mansion in Bexley.

The event was chaired by Jane Yakum and Molly Carlin. Melissa Lacroix handled the player / court logistics.

Dr. Robyn Dennis of Nationwide Children's Hospital shared how the funds would be put to good use.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2014

Scioto Wins Flight A and Worthington Hills, Flight B

On a rare, nice winter day, players and onlookers equally enjoyed the weather for the Columbus Inter-Club Platform League championship. Scioto Country Club beat Rocky Fork and New Albany to win the Flight A league. Worthington Hills won the Flight B Championship after beating Scioto B2 in the semi's and Scioto B1 in the finals.

Scioto Country Club Flight A and Worthington Hills Flight B Teams - Click to enlarge

Worthington Hills' Flight B team lost a few sets along the way but did not lose an individual match all season.

Elysium also received the "Would Have Won Flight A" award.

Everyone enjoyed the great food, beverages, and paddle play..

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2014

Columbus Inter-Club Platform Association Tournament

The CIPA end-of-season tournament and party will take place this weekend at Scioto Country Club and Elysium Tennis. The #1 seeds are Elysium Tennis in Flight A and Worthington Hills Country Club in Flight B. The finals and party will take place at Scioto Country Club.

It was another cold day in central Ohio with temperatures registering 10 degrees at Worthington Hills for the start of the Columbus Open Platform Tennis Tournament on Friday.

Columbus Open Photos - Click to enlarge

The Men's Open champions were Ryan Baxter and Ricky Heath. Nancy Budde and Tracy Glassmeyer won the Women's Open, and Denny English and Mark Kebe won the Men's 90s.

The number of players competing was up this year. There were 24 players in the Men's 90's, 56 players in the Men's Open, and 48 women in the Women's Open.

The matches were played at Elysium Tennis, Scioto Country Club, and Worthington Hills Country Club.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014

Peachtree Invitational

A number of central Ohio platform tennis players migrated south last weekend to participate in the 9th annual Peachtree Invitational. And in the "timing is everything" category... based on today's Columbus Dispatch front page photo of Atlanta's snarled winter traffic, thankfully the players returned to Columbus.

Peter Lauer and Freddy Goldenberg were the tournament chairs and it was an extremely well-done tournament despite having only nine courts available to them.

The Saturday night party was exceptional and it was held at the private residence of Dan and Lisa Kennedy. Approximately 100 paddle people attended.

Make sure that you sign up for the Columbus Open. It will be held February 7-8. Click to sign-up.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2014

The Westy Open

Mark your calendars to participate in the 13th annual Westy Open Paddle Tennis Tournament and Post Party on Saturday, March 8. It is for a great cause and it benefits the Pediatric Cancer Program at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

This co-ed tournament places players in their appropriate skill groups and the matches are played at the Columbus Country Club, Elysium Tennis, New Albany Country Club, Rocky Fork Hunt Club, Scioto Country Club, and Worthington Hills Country Club.

The goals of this web site are to keep everyone informed about platform tennis in Columbus, Ohio and to help everyone get to know each other for social and business purposes. A new feature is now available to assist with the "getting to know you" goal.

For those playing in the Columbus Platform Tennis League, new profile pages are slowly being introduced. Click to view the profile for Bruce Crocco. Bruce is the captain of the Worthington Hills Men A team. The profiles will include league results, the number of years playing platform tennis, a Linkedin profile, and action photos (when available).

Currently, there are only a handful of profiles setup. To view others, click on the team names (i.e. Elysium Men B, WHCC A, WHCC B) and then click on the names in the roster which include hyperlinks.

After you have paid Denny for the league fees, please send me an email or Feedback to get your own Player Profile setup.

Please note that all group and action photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013

First Serious Snow of the Season

Snow during this time of the year normally does not thwart play, but that was not the case on Tuesday night. The image of the net at the top of the page was taken at Worthington Hills.

Scioto Country Club B2 Team - Click to enlarge

League play is at the halfway point of the season. In Flight A, Elysium is first, followed by Worthington Hills and New Albany, respectively. WHCC and New Albany both have 2-1 records.

There are simply not enough action photos of platform tennis players. One reason is that it is unsafe to get inside the cage with these athletic beasts, and the other is that camera gear has to be specialized to take low-light photos. To resolve the low-light problem, I rented a high-end lens for the weekend to permit me to take photos on a cloudy day at Worthington Hills and at night at Elysium.

Click to enlarge

I took over 300 photos on Saturday, and the four photos to the right were a few of my favorites. More photos will be displayed throughout the season. Just click on the image to enlarge it.

Contact me if you would like photos taken at your club. I'm sure we can work out an arrangement.

Only two match results have been submitted from this weekend. Captains, please get your results into me soon.

For those of you who enjoy tennis photos, my tennis web site includes photos for many Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland high school players.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2013

League Play Continues

It was the second week of league play. The scores will be accumulated and provided online tomorrow.

Scioto Country Club B1 Team - Click to enlarge

The camera was not quite setup correctly so Scioto's team picture is fuzzier than it should be. Next time, I'll remember to switch the settings after switching camera lenses.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2013

Web Site Updates / Platform Tennis League

Platform Tennis is a social sport and this web site will reflect this. Pictures will be plentiful to help players match names with faces. For those playing in the league, click on the links to see what has been done for the Elysium Men B, Worthington Hills Men A, and Worthington Hills Men B teams. This will be done for all teams that provide pictures. Hopefully, the players you meet during platform tennis matches can be leveraged in other beneficial ways.

Elysium B Team - Click to enlarge

Columbus launched its inaugural platform tennis league last year. Players really enjoyed it and hopefully the changes this year will make it even better. Last year, the Columbus platform tennis league had teams that consisted of "Flight A" and "Flight B" players. This year, each club will have "A" flight and "B" flight teams. (Scioto will have two "B" teams.) The details are:

Teams will field three doubles teams (rather than four as we had last year). Each team will likely include 8-10 players.

"Flight B" players may play "up" on "Flight A" teams but "A" players may not "play down".

Flight B players may only play on their designated team.

Everyone will pay $40 (with $10 of this going toward this web site). Note: Since Worthington Hills uses PlatformTennisZone.com for its reservation system, their members will not incur the website fee.

Each team will play their opponents twice.

League play will take place on Sunday's.

The all-day, end-of-year tournament and party will be held on a Saturday at the end of the season.

If you do not wish to have your photo included online, just let me know.

MARCH 2013

Pictures from the 2012-13 Season

Here are a few photos from the season. They include photos from the WHCC interclub tournament and the Westy Open Tournament.

Row 1 (l-r): John Haddow and Lance Thompson won the WHCC Club Championship, and Scott West and Bruce Crocco were runner-ups. Second picture includes all of the participants for the WHCC tournament.Rows 2 & 3: Pictures from the Westy Open. Click on link to view WCMH video about the Westy Open (no longer active). - Click to enlarge photos

PlatformTennisZone.com Web Site

The idea behind this site is to help you get to know other platform tennis players, play more matches with players of similar ability, find a sub when you cannot play, and make your club membership even more valuable.

You can even make your reservation online and quickly send email confirmations to your fellow players.

Currently, the site is only available to Worthington Hills Country Club players.

The eventual goal is to provide a connection to enable platform tennis players from all area clubs to quickly find other players who would like to play.

Please make sure that you check out the Columbus Platform Tennis League tab above to view the details of the Columbus Platform Tennis League's inaugural season

Benefits of the web site include the ability to view up-to-date, platform tennis-related contact information for other players.

Avoid the email confusion and reduce the time necessary to find a substitute. You can post sub-related information to others in your group and view comments from others.

Since weekends are a terrible thing to waste, you can post your weekend availability and view the plans of others. By clicking on a player's name, you can quickly obtain contact information.

After you have found others to play, click on Reserve to book a reservation.

All of the information is password protected and access is not permitted until your sign-up information is verified.

Disclaimer: All opinions and commentary expressed by Gerber Analytics, LLC are solely Gerber Analytics, LLC's and they do not reflect the opinions of advertisers presented on the Gerber Analytics, LLC website. This site is not affiliated with any platform tennis clubs, including Worthington Hills Country Club.
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